Brian Scalabrine angry at injury-causing cameraman

Posted by
Inside Hoops

Nov
12

Steve Bulpett of the Boston Herald reports:

As you can imagine, “The People’s Choice” is more than a little frustrated. But he’s not cursing bad luck. He’s ticked at the person who began this entire mess. The ankle was sprained when he went to make an inbounds pass after a Knicks hoop and stepped on a cameraman whose foot was over the designated line at Madison Square Garden.

“This is the first time I’ve ever sprained my ankle in my entire life,” Scalabrine said. “I watched the film. He was 6 inches over the line, 6 inches that I needed to take the ball out of bounds.

“We’re trained to use the space that we are allowed. I’ve taken the ball out of bounds probably 10,000 times in my life, and as long as you’re behind that line I won’t hit you. But if you’re over that line, we’re trained to use that space. I went back to pivot and go, and as I went back, his foot was right there.”

That really is too bad, and I feel sorry for Scalabrine.

In general, I have always thought that basketball courts are too crowded. There’s very little space between three-point range on the sides and the out-of-bounds line. And near the basket, photographers and camermen are very close to to the players.

I’d be cool with about 3-5 feet being added on all sides, giving the players a bit more breathing room as they come close to the edges of the court.